PlanetLightworker

2004 - 2005

PlanetLightworker, published by Sandie Sedgbeer, is a wonderfully diverse and beautifully produced monthly online magazine, whose tag line is “. . . a peaceful illumination of spirit.” I was a regular columnist for a year-and-a-half, and have contributed additional articles at other times. I never met Sandie in person, but we nonetheless formed a mutual admiration society. She is as hard-working, devoted to mission, and impeccable a person as I’ve come across. When I resigned my column, Sandie wrote about my work in her editorial of November 2005. Her acknowledgement and appreciation touched my heart very deeply, and her words give me something to live up to.

Have you ever fallen in love with the work of certain authors? It doesn’t happen often to me, but when it does, oh my, what a delicious feeling it is; the deeper you delve into their work, the more your admiration grows, the more avidly you look forward to their next book, article, or column. Like a starving earthworm, desperate for sustenance, you eat your way through their words, consuming everything they have written as fast as you can.

Then comes that dreadful moment when everything comes screeching to an end. Disappointment reigns because, suddenly, there are no more delights to discover… no more books to read, no more articles to devour.

Like a spurned lover, or an addict coming down from a high, it takes a while to become accustomed to the fact that there’s a hole left in your life that going to take a long, long time to fill.

Okay, perhaps I am waxing a bit too lyrical, but isn’t it always the way in life that we never completely, wholly treasure what we’ve got until it’s taken away? That’s what’s happening here this month as one of my favorite columns sadly comes to an end.

Although I never met him personally, in the 19 months we had the pleasure of publishing his work, and communicating with him by email and phone, I came to believe that Robert Rabbin, author of our Engaged Spirituality column, is the kind of guy who deserves to be a household name.

Clear-minded, open-hearted, honest, ethical, and always in integrity, Robert is the kind of guy who does not balk at putting his money where his mouth is. During the time that he has been writing for PLW, there have been one or two occasions where the content of his column has pushed a few buttons in some who prefer to have their “spiritual guidance” (their words, not mine) served up on a sugar-coated platter of fluffy pink and white marshmallows.

Now I have to tell you that never, at any time in our six-and-a-quarter years of publication, has PLW ever set itself up as the arbiter of Truth (any truth!) As our tag-line in our footer suggests, our mission, as we have always seen it, is to provide a platform upon which many flavors of the truth can be presented. We trust that our readers are intelligent and open-minded enough to accept that truth is a perspective viewed through many lenses, and that each individual must exercise their own discernment.

To me, Robert’s column has been one of the crowning glories of PLW. Sometimes thought-provoking, oftentimes challenging, his writing has always unwaveringly centered in his mission to remind us that “inner spiritual work and transformational social participation are inseparable. Because Inner and outer are more than mirror images of each other: they are each other.”

ARTICLES
(click on each title to read)

• Expressing Gratitude

• Healing Power of Silence

• It Don't Mean A Thing

• Psychopaths in the White House

• Renewing the World with Yoga

• The Elusive Now

• The Super-Sized Self

• We Can't Separate the Inseparable

• Winnowing the World's Wisdom